UFL kickoff: Meet the eight teams and key players for 2024 season

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UFL kickoff: Meet the eight teams and key players for 2024 season

Jim Reineking, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Sun, Mar 31, 2024 ·

8 min read

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The UFL — the result of a merger between two competing spring pro football leagues, the USFL and XFL — kicks off its season this weekend .

The opener features a matchup of last season's champions from the two leagues: the USFL's Birmingham Stallions against the XFL's Arlington Renegades (Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX).

The eight-team league will play a 10-game regular-season schedule . The top two teams in each conference will play in the conference championship games on June 8-9. The UFL championship game will be played on June 16. UFL games will be broadcast on ABC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1, and can be streamed on ESPN+ or the Fox Sports app depending on which network broadcasts the games.

Here are the eight teams, their head coaches and some key players to follow this season:

Arlington Renegades

Home stadium:Choctaw Stadium
Head coach:Bob Stoops

Notable players:

➤ Luis Perez , QB(college: Texas A&M-Commerce) — A veteran of start-up pro football leagues , Perez led the Renegades to last season's XFL title. The UFL is just the latest in a real alphabet soup of pro league acronyms for Perez, who has played in the AAF (Birmingham Steel), USFL (New Jersey Generals) and XFL (New York Guardians, Vegas Vipers and Renegades).

➤ Vic Beasley , LB(Clemson) — A first-round pick (No. 8 overall) of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2015 NFL draft , Beasley was a first-team All-Pro selection during 2016 when the team reached the Super Bowl . He led the league with 15.5 sacks. He spent six seasons in the NFL before joining the XFL's Vegas Vipers in 2023. The Renegades picked up the edge rusher as a 2024 UFL dispersal draft pick.

➤ Marquette King , P(Fort Valley State) — King also spent several seasons in the NFL (five with the Oakland Raiders and one with the Denver Broncos ). King played for the St. Louis Battlehawks in 2020 and then joined the Renegades for the XFL's 2023 rebirth.

Birmingham Stallions

Home stadium:Protective Stadium
Head coach:Skip Holtz

Notable players:

➤ Matt Corral , QB(Ole Miss) — For a period, Corral was a projected NFL first-round pick , but wound up a third-round pick by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL draft . Corral never played a down for the Panthers. He was signed by the New England Patriots in August 2023 but waived shortly thereafter for leaving the team with no notice. Corral will have to compete with incumbent J'Mar Smith and former Nebraska and Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez .

➤ Amari Rodgers , WR(Clemson) — A third-round pick by the Green Bay Packers in the 2021 NFL draft , Rodgers didn't quite measure up in Green Bay but could be a standout as a return specialist in the UFL.

➤ Taco Charlton , DE(Michigan) — Charlton was a first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2017 draft and spent six seasons in the NFL, last playing for the Chicago Bears in 2022.

➤ Scooby Wright , LB( Arizona ) — A standout for the Stallions in 2022 — he had a game-winning pick-six in the USFL championship game — Wright was placed on injured reserve for the 2023 season. Wright, who was a seventh-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2016 , returns to the team that won consecutive USFL titles for a run at the 2024 UFL championship.

D.C. Defenders

Home stadium:Audi Field
Head coach:Reggie Barlow

Notable players:

➤ Jordan Ta'amu, QB(Ole Miss) — Ta'amu is another familiar name if you've been following all of these spring pro football leagues that have sprung up in recent years. In addition to getting signed to the practice squads of a handful of NFL teams, Ta'amu has had multiple XFL stints (2020 with the St. Louis Battlehawks and 2023 with the Defenders) and played in the USFL (2022 with the Tampa Bay Bandits).

Jordan Ta'amu helped lead the DC Defenders to the 2023 XFL championship game.

➤ Keke Coutee , WR(Texas Tech) — Coutee was a fourth-round pick by the Houston Texans in the 2018 draft and played five seasons in the NFL. He had career-highs in receptions (33), receiving yards (400) and touchdowns (3) during the 2020 season.

➤ D.J. Swearinger , S(South Carolina) — Swearinger is another former Texans draft pick ( 2013, second round ). He brings eight seasons of NFL experience to the back end of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' unit.

Houston Roughnecks

Home stadium:Rice Stadium
Head coach:Curtis Johnson

Notable players:

➤ Jarrett Guarantano , QB(Washington State) — Guarantano was an undrafted signee by the Cardinals in 2022 and spent a brief period of time on the Broncos' active roster later that season. Guarantano's return to pro football includes a starting nod in the Roughnecks' season opener against the Memphis Showboats.

➤ Reuben Foster , LB(Alabama) — A first-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 NFL draft , Foster's time in the league was mostly characterized by off-field issues , last playing during the 2018 season. He joined the USFL's Pittsburgh Maulers last season and became a member of the Roughnecks for 2024 through the dispersal draft.

➤ Ethan Westbrooks , DE(West Texas A&M) — Westbrooks was undrafted coming out of college, but did spend six seasons in the NFL (five with the Rams). Westbrooks also famously replaced a player who was unceremoniously cut during the opening episode of "Hard Knocks" with the Raiders in 2019.

Memphis Showboats

Home stadium:Liberty Stadium
Head coach:John DeFilippo

Notable players:

➤ Case Cookus , QB(Northern Arizona) — Cookus led the Philadelphia Stars to the 2022 USFL championship game, but suffered a broken leg in the game. His numbers for the Stars in 2023 aren't inspiring (62.8 completion percentage with 6.6 yard per attempt), but Cookus could be behind center for his new team in Sunday's season opener against the Houston Roughnecks.

➤ Wes Saxton , TE(South Alabama) — Talk about a pro football journeyman, Saxton has been bouncing around the NFL, AAF, XFL, USFL and now UFL since being an undrafted rookie for the New York Jets in 2015. Saxton appeared in one NFL game as a rookie and has been with nine different pro football teams across those five different leagues since.

➤ P.J. Hall , DE(Sam Houston State) — Hall was a second-round pick by the Raiders in the 2018 NFL draft , and played three seasons in the league (two for the Raiders and one with the Texans). He was with the XFL's Seattle Sea Dragons and San Antonio Brahmas in 2023, and now gets a chance to be a difference-maker for the Showboats.

Michigan Panthers

Home stadium:Ford Field
Head coach:Mike Nolan

Notable players:

➤ Danny Etling , QB(LSU) — Etling was a seventh-round pick by the Patriots in the 2018 NFL draft , but has stuck around in the league, with his last stint being on the Packers' practice squad. Etling is in his first season in a start-up spring football league and it would be a surprise if he wasn't the team's full-time starter.

➤ Trey Quinn , WR(SMU) — Quinn was a seventh-round pick by Washington in the 2018 draft and played three seasons in the NFL (two for Washington and one with the Jacksonville Jaguars ). After leading the Michigan Panthers in receiving yards (438), Quinn is back as a go-to receiving threat for 2024.

➤ Breeland Speaks , DE(Ole Miss) — Speaks — a second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2018 NFL draft and part of the Super Bowl 54-winning team — was the USFL's leader in sacks last season with 9.

San Antonio Brahmas

Home stadium:Alamodome
Head coach:Wade Phillips

Notable players:

➤ Chase Garbers , QB(Cal) — After bouncing on and off the Las Vegas Raiders ' 53-man roster and practice squad for the past two NFL seasons, Garbers finally might have landed a professional starting gig in San Antonio.

➤ Anthony McFarland , RB(Maryland) — McFarland — a fourth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2020 draft — brings four seasons of NFL experience to the Brahmas' backfield. Injuries prevented McFarland from really getting a foothold in the NFL.

➤ Cody Latimer , WR(Indiana) — Latimer was a second-round pick by the Broncos in the 2014 NFL draft (in a wide receiver class that included Sammy Watkins , Mike Evans , Odell Beckham Jr. , Davante Adams , Allen Robinson , Jarvis Landry ). Latimer, who spent six seasons in the NFL, was drafted three spots behind Adams, and five ahead of Robinson and seven ahead of Landry. Latimer played for the XFL's Orlando Guardians in 2023 (registering 43 receptions for 523 yards and four touchdowns), and joined the Brahmas through the dispersal draft.

St. Louis Battlehawks

Home stadium:The Dome at America's Center
Head coach:Anthony Becht

Notable players:

➤ AJ McCarron , QB(Alabama) — Quite possibly the biggest name in the UFL, McCarron led the Crimson Tide to back-to-back BCS national championships in 2011-12. He finished second to Jameis Winston in the voting for the 2013 Heisman Trophy and won that season's Maxwell Award (presented to the college football player of the year). McCarron — a fifth-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2014 draft — played in seven NFL seasons, including 2023 for the Bengals. McCarron had a standout season for the Battlehawks last year and opted to return to the team for 2024.

➤ Hakeem Butler , WR(Iowa State) — An All-XFL receiver in 2023, Butler also returns for the Battlehawks. Butler also brings an NFL pedigree … he was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2019 draft and played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020.

➤ Pita Taumoepenu , LB(Utah) — Taumoepenu was the 2023 XFL defensive player of the year while with the Vegas Vipers and was picked up by the Battlehawks to bolster a defense that needs help. Taumoepenu — a sixth-round pick by the 49ers in the 2017 draft — played four seasons in the NFL.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UFL 2024 season kickoff: Meet the eight teams and notable players

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